doing some thinking

I have been doing some reading and got to thinking about what people see in their mind when they hear certain things.

How about this. What do you picture when you hear the word hillbilly? An unwashed overall clad man sitting in a rocker on a porch of a shack with his feet propped up on a crocked rail? Maybe with a jug of moonshine and a coon dog there too? What about a female pool shooter? Let me guess, big boob, short skirt, bimbo that hangs around a bar. What about a homosexual? A Southerner? Don’t even get me started on skin color or nationalities!

People have pre-conceived ideas of what a person is based on their sex, race, religion (or lack of), background, where they live or were born, among other things. This is called bigotry. I can hear people now saying how dare you call me a bigot. Everyone, no matter how tolerant they are have some bigotry in them. Each person must look inside themselves and find what it is and strive to change that. No one can make you think or feel differently, only yourself. If you open your eyes and really look, you will find plenty of examples of non- stereotypes. Not everyone in a suit is a stuffed shirt, not all Southerners are loud, mouthed rednecks that like NASCAR, not all gays are all about sex. The list goes on and on.

Here in J-Land, we have in our on way, either confirmed what some people have thought or we have elicited a change in some people. I have enjoyed reading journals of people who have different lifestyles than me. The more I read the more I learn about people from all walks of life. I am seeing what other people think about different subjects. I do not always agree with what they say, I may not agree with what they are doing. I have found that thru each journal I read I learn something about them and myself. I find myself thinking about what I know, or thought I knew.

I want to thank everyone for sharing with me, for helping me to grow as a person. For teaching me more about things I know and for teaching me things I did not know. Most importantly, I want to thank everyone for their friendship.